Thoughts about teaching and learning from an online instructor at the University of Oklahoma. :-)

May 25, 2007

Salomone sapientior

In English: Wiser than Solomon.

Given that I've been posting proverbs about wisdom, sapientia, it made sense to choose this saying about the wise King Solomon. Just as Croesus was the proverbial rich man, King Solomon was the proverbial wise man. To be wiser than Solomon would be very wise indeed.There is a fascinating story in the Bible, I Kings 3, about Solomon and God's gift of wisdom. Here is the Latin, along with the King James English version:

5 Apparuit autem Dominus Salomoni per somnium nocte, dicens: Postula quod vis ut dem tibi. In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

6 Et ait Salomon: Tu fecisti cum servo tuo David patre meo misericordiam magnam, sicut ambulavit in conspectu tuo in veritate et justitia, et recto corde tecum: custodisti ei misericordiam tuam grandem, et dedisti ei filium sedentem super thronum ejus, sicut est hodie. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

12 ecce feci tibi secundum sermones tuos, et dedi tibi cor sapiens et intelligens, in tantum ut nullus ante te similis tui fuerit, nec post te surrecturus sit. Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

13 Sed et hæc quæ non postulasti, dedi tibi: divitias scilicet, et gloriam, ut nemo fuerit similis tui in regibus cunctis retro diebus. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.

Meanwhile, there is a book of the Bible called "The Wisdom of Solomon." It forms part of the Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, but it is assigned to the apocryphal books in King James and other Protestant Bibles, and it does not form part of the Hebrew Bible. You can read the Latin and Greek texts of the book at the Sacred Texts website. That book is written as if by Solomon in the first person. If you are interested in learning more about it, I've written up some information at the Religious Reading blog.Meanwhile, wishing you all the wisdom of Solomon, here is today's proverb read out loud: